CANTILEVER TRUSS DESIGN COMPETITION

Our Mechatronics class was tasked with designing and building a cantilever truss using balsa wood. The effectiveness of the truss would be judged based on its strength to weight ratio. I designed the pentagonal-shaped truss structure, which was chosen due to its ability to better distribute forces as well as minimize the force in the bottom compression members (the members with the highest force). The initial truss structure and dimensions were chosen using computer simulation. Through several trials and prototype iterations, this design improved. The curved dog bone ends were added to remove stress concentrations while the small doughnut shaped caps were added around each pin joint to reduce torsion during loading. During the competition, the truss held 311 times its own mass (16.08 g mass, held 5 kg).